I've been waiting for this kind of challenge for Aladdin to happen; because it's an opportunity for the Genie to flex his powers :D
I was smiling while reading this sentence:
“By Allah! Oh mother, seeing you come in with that crooked face, I thought you were going to give me very bad news!
Aladdin is very confident because he knows exactly how powerful Genie is. The dowry requested by the Sultan is things that the Genie can magically provide for Aladdin. What I look forward to learning is the reaction of the Sultan and the Grand-Vizier as soon as the procession of the dowry takes place in the palace. Anyway, I don't want to get ahead of that.
I want to talk about the part where the Grand-Vizier is gaslighting the Sultan into asking for more dowry from Aladdin's mother during their meeting. I finally realized how dependent the Sultan is on the Grand-Vizier when it comes to his decision-making. At first, the Grand-Vizier delayed the marriage of Aladdin and the Princess for 3 months. He did that to buy himself some time to have his Son marry the Princess instead. And now, he's trying to sabotage Aladdin by advising the Sultan to ask for more dowry that he thinks is impossible for Aladdin to provide; LOL
What he doesn't know is that Aladdin has a Genie that's powerful enough to provide the requested dowry (I think). Of course, it's just an assumption because it hasn't happened yet. We will learn about that in the next part.
The Grand-Vizier is always been the shady character in this story and he's not giving up until Aladdin gives up on his quest to marry the Princess. It's not going to be easy for Aladdin but he seems determined enough to accomplish his goal to marry the Princess. We'll learn more about his plans in the coming parts of the story; I'm already looking forward to it :)
Yes, but remember that he is not the main villain.
I'm intrigued by this... so if he's not the main villain; are you saying that the Maghrebi is? If yes, then he will be re-introduced in the later part of the story.
Recalling back to the previous parts of the story, the only persons who know about the magic lamp and the Genie is the Maghrebi and Aladdin's mother; so it only makes sense that the Maghrebi is the main villain. And he really wants to have the Magic Lamp from Aladdin.